Previously….

"Did you get what you were sent for?" His deep voice boomed through the room.
"Yes dad. I did."
"Good." And then he laughed. A deep throaty, horrible laugh. It sent chills down Ember's back. But, she smiled none the less.
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I run up to Finn. I feel the tears sting my eyes, but I refuse to wipe them away. I'm ecstatic! I finally have my best friend back. When Finn wraps his arms around my back, the tears stream down my face. It feels like it's been a million years since he's done this. I just now realize how much I've missed him. I pull back, and he smiles down at me. He wipes away my tears, and digs through his pocket. He pulls out a wadded up tissue, and wipes my nose.
"Fi, you're snotting. It's totally attractive though." I smile and punch his arm lightly. Then, it hits me. He chose Ember over me. Again. For how long? I suddenly feel very offensive and stand back. I pull back my arm and punch him as hard as I can. He recoils, babying his arm.
"Ow! What was that for Fi? We just had a moment!"
"Yeah! But then I remembered what's been happening. YOU CHOSE HER AGAIN FINN! YOU LEFT ME ALONE! AGAIN! AND THEN YOU JUST DID THAT!?" I'm pacing the room now, ranting and raving. "AND WHEN EMBER TRIED TO HURT ME, YOU STOOD IDLY BY, AND JUST WATCHED IT HAPPEN! WHEN DID IT OCCUR TO YOU THAT EMBER WAS NO GOOD?! WHEN DID YOU REALIZE THAT YOU MISSED ME?! HUH? WHEN FINN!? HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN SINCE YOU'VE EVEN GLANCED MY WAY? WHY WOULD YOU THINK THAT IT'S OKAY TO DO THAT!?" Suddenly warm arms wrap around me. I don't wanna be in them though. I want to be let go. I wasn't done. I pound against his chest, but his grip is locked it. "YOU JERK! YOU UNSENSITIVE, IMPOSSIBLE, JERK! YOU LEFT ME ALONE! YOU TORE ME APART INSIDE! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW I FEEL! YOU CHOSE HER. YOU JERK! LET ME GO!"
"No Fi." His voice was gruff, and cracked when he said my name. I look up and there are tears rolling down his face. I vaguely hear Marceline say something like "Well, we better give these two some spaaace…." I think I see them walk away. I think I see Uncle Simon stand there and smile before he turns to walk away. Something inside me clicks and I realize what's happening. Finn holds me, and I cry. I cry and cry and cry until I run out of snot and tears. I wipe my face with my arm, and I hear Finn chuckle. I bow my head and look up at him through my lashes. He reaches down and pulls my face up by my chin. He leans down, inches from my face. I close my eyes, and wait. I feel his breath on my lips. My heart beats a million miles an hour. But I'm not ready for what happens….

He licks my nose. The little shit. I open my eyes and I see Finn looking at me.
"Now, are you going to let me explain?"
"Knock yourself out."
"Okay. So, when we found Ember, it was like something exploded inside of me. She had kept a piece of me with her. A piece of me that I never knew she had until I saw her again. All this time I've been with her, I've been falling apart. I have nightmares every night. I wake up five times a night. And she knew that. But she didn't do anything. But I couldn't leave. I just couldn't. She still had that part of me. I tried to leave when I woke up. I tried opening your door, to come in and lay with you. To feel safe. To know I'm okay. But every time I touched your door knob, it felt like my hand had suddenly caught fire. I knew I couldn't go in. I had betrayed your trust. I watched you. I listened to you laugh, and my heart ached to be the one making you laugh again. I just couldn't though. But when Ember said something about Simon, about leaving family behind, I realized that she couldn't control me. I realized that she will always carry a piece of me with her. But that doesn't mean that she can control me. Because you have more of my heart than she does. Fi, you're family. You're one of the best things that I have in the damn apocalyptic waste land. And I can't lose you. I can't let you go. Because it was driving me insane. I finally stepped up. I finally said fuck her. I chose you Fi. I choose you! I'm sorry Fi. I'm so sorry." I look him in his tear filled eyes, and I see the scared little five year old boy I saw when he accidently pushed me out of our old treehouse. I see the scared ten year old who broke his living room window when he was playing ninja when he wasn't supposed to be. I see the barley teenage boy, broken and alone, after the first Ember incident. I see my best friend in the whole wide world. My best friend who needs me. I fling myself into his chest with my arms around his neck.

"I missed you so much." I mumble into his shoulder.
"I missed you too Fi…" I feel him shaking as he cries. He wraps his arms firmly around my back and I feel myself crying too. We fall to our knees and just sit there for a while, crying into each other's shoulders.

Slowly we stand up, and wipe the snot and tears off our faces. I punch him in the arm.
"Dope. Why'd you have to make me cry?"
"Me make you cry, you made me cry!" We laugh for a few seconds, and then Marceline walks out of the hallway.
"Sooooo…. Did you guys make out or something?"
"Marcie! No! We didn't! That'd be gross."
"What!? Are you saying I'm gross?"
"Yes."
"Well, I see how you are." Finn huffs, and Marceline and I roll our eyes.
"Okay, Bonniebell wants all of us to meet in my room. She wants to discuss the whole Ember thing. She has a bad, bad, bad feeling that were not done with her." I nod my head, because in the pit of my stomach, I know something's not right too. Finn and I walk into Marceline's room. This is the first time I've ever been behind the dark door. Her walls are black with red trim. Her bed is a king size, four poster bed. I sit on it, and nod my head. It's just like her couch. A rock. There are red, purple, and blue votives light around the room. Her dark mahogany dressers hold book upon book and a large closet stands in the corner. There are a few bean bag chairs set around, and when everyone's settled, the conversation starts.

"I feel like Ember may have had ulterior motives for being here. It seems that she gave up too easily. I feel that she's going to be a nuisance. She's watched us. Learned our movements, our personalities. She knows too much about us. She knows where we are. The maze, the marks. We need to do something. We need to change this. We need to change the maze. Make it difficult. We need to change our symbol. Do something to the trees that marked our territory."
"Actually," Uncle Simon speaks up, "I think we should keep the trees. I agree that the symbol needs to be changed. And something has to be done about that maze. But if we change too much, Ember will know we're up to something. We can mark more trees with the symbol, that might confuse her. Lead her away from us. When I saw her, I felt something evil in her. Call it a sixth sense, or call me crazy, but it's there. She's dangerous. Something must be done." The room is silent. I take a deep breath.
"I agree with Uncle Simon. But I don't think Ember is the truly dangerous one. I think there's something worse than Ember. Something that could kill us all."